LESSON PLAN FOR DAY #1

TITLE: Who We Are: Creating a Classroom Community

OVERVIEW:

In this first lesson, students read short works by a variety of authors, respond to them in large group discussion, and then write create their own pieces in their journals. This activity is meant to help students understand who they are and where they come from, an important part of building classroom community.

GOALS/OBJECTIVES:

                        Students will understand what I value in my writing classroom: mutual respect, sharing, tolerance for diversity, and celebration of difference.

                        Students will gain a better understanding of themselves and their classmates.

                        Students will begin to create a classroom community in which we all will feel comfortable sharing and working together.

                        Students will be introduced to journal writing and group discussion protocols.

MATERIALS/RESOURCES NEEDED:

“My Name” from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Student writing from Reading, Writing, and Rising Up by Linda Christensen (Rethinking Schools 2000). (Bakari Chavanus, Mary Blalock)

Notebooks that students will use for a journal for the entire semester.

ACTIVITIES/PROCEDURES: After giving a brief overview of the class, I will pass out the handouts containing “My Name,” Bakari Chavanus’ story about changing his name, and Mary Blalock’s poem entitled “Mary.” I will read these aloud.	10 minutes
Next, I will pass out the student’s journals, explain their purpose, and ask my students to perform their first free write in their journals. The following questions will serve as writing prompts: How do these pieces make you feel? What do you think the purpose of each work is?”	15 minutes
Next, students will split into pre-selected groups of four or five to discuss their journal entries with their peers. They should perform a read-around in which each student shares her/his journal response with the other members of the group. Each group member should make at least one positive comment about every piece.	15 minutes
Next, we will reconvene as a class and one or two representatives from the groups will share their journal responses out loud with the class. After several students have read their pieces, I will explain to my students that they are going to compose their own piece of writing centered on their name. For the remainder of this first class period, students will write about their own names. I will emphasize that students may write a poem, a history of their name or nickname, or even their feelings about their name. Lastly, I will inform students that they should bring this piece to our next class.	10 minutes